The first parking meter in the world was installed on July 16, 1935, in the city of Oklahoma City, United States. Called the "Park-O-Meter," it was invented by Carl C. Magee, a newspaper editor who was bothered by the lack of turnover in the spots downtown [1].
The Invention of the Park-O-Meter
Carl Magee noticed that local shop employees occupied the spots all day, preventing customers from finding a place to park. His solution was brilliant in its simplicity: a mechanical device that accepted coins and marked the allowed parking time.
| First Parking Meter Data | Details |
|---|---|
| Installation date | July 16, 1935 |
| Location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA |
| Inventor | Carl C. Magee |
| Commercial name | Park-O-Meter |
| Cost to the driver | 5 US cents per 1 hour |
| Operation | Mechanical, coin-operated |
The Evolution Over the Decades
The history of paid parking can be divided into eras:
- Mechanical Era (1935-1990): Coin meters, manual enforcement
- Electronic Era (1990-2010): Digital meters, magnetic cards
- Digital Era (2010-2020): Mobile apps, SMS payment
- AI Era (2020-present): Automated OCR, enforcement by artificial intelligence, IoT sensors
Brazil entered this history in 1974-1975 with São Paulo's Zona Azul, and today it is at the global forefront of the AI Era thanks to companies like Areatec, whose OCR Vehicle and Aretron represent the state of the art in smart enforcement [2].